Walmart Nips At Petsmart, Petco’s Four-Legged Insurance Business

Walmart (WMT) is looking to increase its stake in the $53 billion pet market with the rollout of a series of new animal care services that will compete heavily with pet store rivals Petco and Petsmart.

Under its Walmart Pet Care brand, the retail giant is bringing Walmart Pet Insurance to its customers in a partnership with pet health insurance provider, PetPlan.

The pet insurance will provide up to 90% coverage for accidents, injuries, illnesses, including chronic and hereditary conditions, for dogs and cats, saving pet owners up to 10% on their policies with PetPlan.

Claims can be filed through the pet insurance, any vet is covered, and virtual and emergency appointments can be made through the plan’s app. The plan’s policy also holds $1,000 worth of online vet appointments at no additional charge, Walmart said.

The addition of Walmart’s Pet Insurance rivals Petco’s Vital Care and Petsmart’s CertaPet pet insurances, which are also designed to offer full-service pet care to dog and cat owners. Beyond the pet insurance, Petco and Petsmart offer veterinary, grooming, and other wellness services in addition to its collection of pet supplies and food products.

Walmart, seeking to cut into a market projected to balloon $64 billion over the next four years, is banking on the 90 million pet owners that shop at its stores to take advantage of these services as well as the new Rover dog-walking and pet-sitting service it also introduced.

Rover is a pet service app and website that provides access to trusted neighborhood pet care from over 300,000 providers in communities across the U.S. offered in a range of budgets.

Those that sign up for Rover through Walmart will receive a $20 store gift card for their first completed service and another $20 store gift card for their fifth service within six months.

“We’re on a mission to help families live better – and that goes for pets, too,” Melody Richard, merchandising vice president for Pets at Walmart, said in a statement. “Especially as adoption rates soar as a result of the pandemic, and more people become pet owners, this was the perfect time to launch expanded services in Walmart Pet Care for our customers.”

Walmart offers in-store and online pet prescriptions under the Walmart Pet Care brand with Walmart PetRx, which it first launched in 2019. The Arkansas-based retail giant also has a number of in-store vet clinics at select store locations.

Shares of Walmart were trading at $148.35 as of 10:55 a.m. ET, up 37 cents, or 0.25%.